Maz O'Connnor at Twickfolk

Maz O'Connor with guitar

As you may know I spent a glorious 6 months as artist-in-residence at Twickfolk to help celebrate 30 years of live music at this popular venue. This was my first time back (25/05/2014), under the recommendation of  reliable talent spotter, Mike Watts, or Dr Fizzy as he is more popularly known. The talent in question was Maz O'Connor, a petite singer with both compositional and vocal skills that have been celebrated recently with a nomination for the Horizon Award in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2013.

Twickfolk is run by enthusiasts and volunteers so the welcome is always genuine and heartfelt upon arrival. I felt even more at home with the news that Sue Graves would be providing the support. An all too short brace of tunes gave us first Amos Lee's "Sweet Pea" and then 'A May carol'. She is both a real asset to Twickfolk and the folk scene itself with the clarity of her unfaltering voice.

Sue Graves

Whether it was the build up or exterior factors at play but the otherwise competent Maz O'Connor tripped over words frequently during introductions and in-between tunes. Strangely she felt exposed on stage and this was exaggerated in the dead silence of a folk club. The audience though didn't let her flounder. Of course music is their most common bond but such diverse subjects as Greek mythology and the Suffragettes movement were not beyond their oeuvre.

Maz O'Connor's most successful tune of the evening was "Greenwood side" that painted a rich picture in its combination of narrative and music. Based upon a heady mix of Pre-Raphaelites imagery and the subject matter of Lizzie Siddal, the song churned dark and rich like the Hogsmill River that runs just a few miles away. It was here that John Everett Millais painted his iconic version of Ophelia which now hangs in the Tate Gallery and remains one of our nation's favourite paintings. I hope this tune will find a place close to our hearts too.

Maz O'Connor - Shruti Box

O'Connor didn't dominate her appearance at Twickfolk but to her credit her demeanour was one of approachability over star quality. Her voice had a light purity that skated over the ice rather than cut into it with an ear-catching pirouette. Her song-writing by contrast had a strength which lasted throughout. The two songs that cut the deepest were "The Mississippi Woman" and "My Persephone", the latter had stretch and ambition that gave us a full view of our headliner's talents.

AL.

Melissa James - Gallery in a Gig

Melissa James

Life imitating art or vice versa, you take your pick. Either way this was an offer I couldn't refuse.
If you find yourself in an Art Gallery that served wine, surrounded by beautiful pictures of birds, musical script and amongst friends you're virtually guaranteed a good time. Add the potent ingredient of Melissa James and it could almost be a fool proof hit.

Ross Lorraine - Keys

We all have a self destruct button though. Last Thursday (24/07/2013) I was the guest of gig addicts Dr and Mrs Fizzy alongside their classy chaperone Sarah Hadland. Despite everything panning out perfectly in the sweet evening air of Bethnal Green that said button was pressed. Wine went flying, glass after glass hitting the Café floor but everything calmed with Melissa James' opening gambit. Aptly titled 'Don't You Keep Yourself Down' (Free download Here) it stopped our reckless behaviour and reduced the imbibing rate just in time.



Giorgos Paphitis - guitar

Supporting the charity Small Steps Project this was the first in a series of gigs in Galleries across London. A tour that suits two of my strongest passions but what impressed me most of was the lightness of sound and sentiment from Melissa James herself. It would be easily to overcook the theme particularly in this café environment too. Like her songs James has a beautiful lingering sound that lives with you well after the event itself. Connoisseur Dr Fizzy explained to me that James is his bedtime choice...' a voice that lifts me into the arms of Orpheus'.

Rowland Sutherland - Flute

Melissa James was joined on the warm lit stage of the Café Gallery by Giorgos Paphitis (Guitar), Ross Lorraine (Keys) and Rowland Sutherland (Flute). It was particularly the entry of the latter for 'Precious Time' that lifted our eyes to the skylight above. We saw the birds hanging high in London's hazy blue and we escaped the capital's clayed feet. Not for long! Enticing us back into her embrace we submersed ourselves in 'Old Mother London' once again. A haunting song, co-written with Tom Robinson, we hope they will perform it together for their final Gig in a Gallery event at The Queen of Hoxton on the 30th October 2013.

Kaz Simmons

London spilled in around us on this eve and our support singer, Kaz Simmons, danced barefoot with her too. Inspired by the radio station London 94.9, she treated us to the wonderful self penned 'For the Love of the Big L' and if by magic a siren from the Old Ford Road elbowed itself into the venue and joined in the celebration.  Adding a little Brazilian spice to the evening Simmons said her farewells with 'Teco-Teco' and we stopped ourselves from dancing amongst the cafe's tables with difficulty. There was a huge sigh of relief from the waitress though, not because of the sheer embarrassment of mine and Dr Fizzy's imminent gyrating but because she didn't want to mop up another bottle of wine from the floor.


Check out Melissa James' GIG IN A GALLERY tour here and her beautiful flowing songs at her website -
www.melissa-james.com

AL.

Ben Castle and Will-o-Wisp

Ben Castle - Saxophone

I just had to close my eyes after 90 minutes of Ben Castle and Makoto Kuirya's set at Pizza Express last Friday (08/03/2013). The last hour and a half had been a frenzied scribble of scratches, sweeps and dots. The music had captured my soul and replaced it with an overflowing voltaic pile of Jackson Pollock energy.

I had a wonderful view courtesy of my hosts Mike and Gail Watts, who had bagged a central table. They had discovered Castle at Nottingham's Splendour Festival, he was dressed as a matador and playing with the idiosyncratic Duke Special so they did not know quite what to expect. It is true, even in more conformist attire, he is hard to categorise as a player and person. I suspect he does not know himself, he is an excellent player and is probably having the time of his life playing and exploring the boundaries of his musical playground.

Makoto Kuriya - piano

He is modest and easy going, deliberately stepping out of the limelight during the performance to support others. I'm sure his generosity encourages advice from all quarters, to play this, try that, jam with me and change your style. His foundations run deep though (he was anchored by his father's sax in hand), and his strong grounding allows him to express and explore without restraint. Who else could slip a Minogue melody into proceeding while wearing his Mountie striped trousers with such dead-pan cheek. The future changes from day to day for Ben Castle, the next day was a visit to the Maida Vale studios with his piccolo and then further afield to finish an album project of Pop tunes in a 30's jazz style with two other singers.

What had brought me to a state of near exhaustion was Makoto Kuriya on piano. He was an untamed ethereal force whose speed and execution was hard to mirror with my pad and pen. His lightweight frame bounced in and out of his chair, frequently his left hand kicked back like he was a rodeo star bucked by the piano's ferocity. His mouth was continually animated, it bit, chattered and snapped at imaginary 'amuse-bouche' that floated in front of his starving eyes. Even without sketchbook in hand it was hard to keep up.

 I watched the charming lady (Sarah Hadland) opposite me, as her eyes darted in hypnotic spirals. I asked her at the interval what she thought of the performance, "I'm desperate to see what's on his chart. I can't believe there's any notes written down at all. He's so free, physical and dynamic, like the flow is more important than the direction".
Understandably he is a hard man to capture and remains a will-o'-the-wisp type player that will take many viewings to trap in my artistic jam jar.

Arnie Somogyi - bass

MK's compositions were not my favourites of the evening though. That dubious honour goes to Arnie Somogyi and his tune 'JJ' which starts with a throbbing bass line and flows beautiful into lyrical swing.

I had a particularly bad view of drummer Bence Bolygo but could hear he was travelling at a good mph, there was no chance of any Salford traffic warden giving him a parking fine for nodding-off.

Bence Bolygo

Now it might look like I was falling asleep in the last 30 minutes but my body had taken an assault to its senses. The pure speed of Kuriya's playing had rendered my sketching hand exhausted and useless. Sometimes you've just got to give in to the music and listen. Shutting down all other senses....and....listen.

Still listening.....

AL

Me listening
Photo Mike Watts

Foreign Slippers - Gabi Froden and Phil Wilkinson

Gabi Froden

Beauty and the Beast took to the Water Rats stage on Wednesday this week (27/02/2013) in the guise of Gabi Froden and Phil Wilkinson from Foreign Slippers. This was not a reincarnation of the musical that left London's West End in 1999 and now had returned to downtown King's Cross. Nor a hard worked metaphor, that reflects the attractiveness of the duo themselves, although each was bathed in contrasting lights that emphasised their differing roles.

The Beauty..... the voice of Froden.

The Beast...... the dark electronic beats of Wilkinson

It was a night of juxtapositions. Gabi Froden was glowingly beautiful under the red spotlight but her lyrics have a chilling and melancholy feel at times. She has a deadpan relationship with her audience and you cannot help but be captivated by her Scandinavian delivery. Like the mouse that is being toyed with by the cat, you know you are in her thrall although within a playful grasp. But unlike the mouse you never want to escape.
Froden bookended the night's performance on guitar but spent the majority on keys.

Phil Wilkinson lingered in the blue shadows cast by Froden but should take just as much credit for the night's excellent performance. For this duo it was an opportunity to warm-up and energise new material ahead of a tour with FOY VANCE, starting tomorrow at Newcastle's Cluny.
Tour dates here.
Wilkinson's brave electronic beats were at their most effective during 'Road to Ruin', the sound of them crunching and spitting out at us. Musically it was an almost tactile path through Blake's 'And did those feet in ancient time'.
Froden's voice was the rolling hills of a 'Green and pleasant Land' and Wilkinson's cloud of beats erupted from those 'dark Satanic Mills'.
Froden and Wilkinson weren't persistently at loggerheads either, their voices regularly combined creating smooth folk landscapes.

Mike Watts

Amongst the Water Rats' Greek columns we heard some modern material too, including 'Sleepwalker', written by Wilkinson. Earlier in the evening Gabi admitted to me that she finds it hard to accept Phil's ideas when first presented to her -

"I'm very critical at the start when Phil conjures up a new song for us. I find it very hard to own a song that I haven't written but eventually I fall in love and it becomes part of my identity too".

I had been invited this evening by a 'Face', as they say on the circuit. Whether I have achieved that honour yet I do not know but this face belonged to Mike Watts, who as a supporter and photographer of live music is a regular on the folk circuit and beyond. He is a man (usually with his wife Gail) that can be seen at many venues, listening to any genre, but with a keen ear for the New.
He has followed the progress of Gabi Froden (particularly her collaborations with Duke Special) for a while and gave me an insight into the music.

"When she takes the high notes her voice retains its fine quality but with a touch of vibrato, it just has that accuracy and tone! The most memorable night was at Belfast's Waterfront where she sang Ruby Murray's 'Jimmy Unknown' in front of two and half thousand people with a 26 piece orchestra behind her".



Phil Nelson -
First Column Management

Both Mike and I left a healthy crowd at The Water Rats with Foreign Slippers and their manager Phil 'Leveller' Nelson. I never know whether this nickname was earned because of his previous management fame or because he has that imposingly strong demeanour. Answers on a postcard...

 Although Mike and I got lost on the way home, I know we'll find each other again soon. I'm his guest at Ben Castle's gig at the Pizza Express, Soho on 8th March.

Your next chance to see/hear Foreign Slippers here in London is on the 13th March at the Islington Assembly Halls. See if you can resist the potent wave of Gabi Froden's voice and Phil Wilkinson's dark beats.

AL